Maybe We Should Talk About This
by Leo of Nohr
Summary: After everything is over, Ryoma realises that he never really knew Takumi all that well and decides to change this. Takumi, however, is struggling with his own problems that run much deeper than an abandoned familial relationship. Post Birthright.
1. Chapter 1

Ryoma had sort of always known that there was something a little different about Takumi, something off that wasn't off with Hinoka and Sakura. The problem was that when Takumi was younger, he just shrugged everyone away and wouldn't let him ask if anything was wrong, so every question he had for Takumi about how he was doing went almost completely unasked and entirely unanswered.

Now, though, he felt as if he was starting to get a little closer to what was wrong. It was ironic and horrible that this war, the thing that had taken so much from all of them (he was thinking about Azura even now, and he missed her so deeply), was now bringing him closer to the siblings he had neglected as he grew up.

Hinoka, of course, was someone he had always been with and understood from a very young age, but once he got past her, his siblings became almost shrouded in mystery. He had been close to Corrin when she was younger, but when she was stolen away, so too was there relationship, as he was fairly sure she remembered almost nothing from her childhood before Nohr (she said that she had been told that she had hit her head very hard and this had caused her to have amnesia, but he would call foul play on that one any day). But he had never really been that close with Takumi. When the boy was younger, he'd been interested in learning swordplay from Ryoma, but that ended from the instant that Takumi lost a few rounds very badly, and from then he was fairly ashamed to admit that he hadn't spent as much time with Takumi as he should have.

Now, though, it seemed to be changing. He'd known from the moment that the Fujin Yumi chose Takumi that the boy would grow to be someone special on the battlefield, but once he saw Takumi in action he was taken aback. He was vulnerable with the bow up close, of course, but if he caught the enemy by surprise he was nigh on unbeatable. And after fighting together for their future, Ryoma now found he had cause to talk to Takumi, and for once, his younger brother didn't push him away.

"Takumi!" He called when making his way across the grounds. He got up early on most days as he had so much to manage now he was fully ruling the kingdom, but he hadn't been expecting to see many people at this time in the morning, let alone his brother, already fixed into practising with his bow. They were no longer even at war, yet he was told by Sakura that Takumi still practised for several hours a day. "Good morning!"

"Good morning, brother," he said, lowering his bow. "I didn't expect to see you up so early this morning."

"Likewise with you," Ryoma said, going over to the edge of the practise area. He had been planning to have an early breakfast and get started on the work he had been given today (his most challenging task, perhaps, would be responding to the soon King Leo without sounding like he was unintelligent in comparison), but it could easily wait if he got a chance to talk to his long neglected brother. "I did not realise that any but our army were still training as if the war was not over." Officially, the war was still going on, but an end to any form of fighting had come over a month ago now.

"There will always be people I need to protect," Takumi said simply in response, and Ryoma got the impression that his brother hadn't shared all of his thoughts on the matter of the future of conflict with Nohr. Maybe Takumi was still shaken after his brush with the possession. Ryoma found that he still was, and it wasn't even him who had been the one who was being controlled. He couldn't imagine how Takumi felt about it, and his brother had never spoken to him about it, or even anyone at all, at least not to his knowledge. Then again, no one had any obligation to talk to him about things that his brother talked about, so he shouldn't really have expected anything.

"Indeed, but is it really necessary to be up so early in the morning?" He asked, smiling at Takumi. Had he even eaten yet? How long would he spend practising before he decided that enough was enough and he could get on with something that wasn't about preparing to be attacked?

Takumi sniffed, and Ryoma sensed he'd said something wrong. He really needed to get to know his brother better. "I have been getting up at this time every day for several years," he said, raising his bow again to point it at the target. He hit it dead on with barely any time to steady his hand, and Ryoma wondered what it had been like for his friends and his family, fighting him when he was possessed.

Ryoma felt as if he had been dismissed, but he didn't want to let Takumi go so soon. It was blatantly clear that he did not know his brother well enough to understand him or even hold a civil conversation with him for more than a few moments. With Sakura, he could understand that a lot of the time, talking made her uncomfortable and she preferred to listen to others, but he absolutely knew that Takumi talked a lot with his retainers. It was just people he didn't know very well that he didn't talk to at length. And because of the way he had let himself drift away from Takumi when he was younger, he was included on the very long list of people that weren't spoken to. "Have you eaten breakfast this morning, Takumi?" He asked.

Takumi merely snorted and shook his head, apparently not dignifying him with a verbal response.

"Come on then brother, put down your bow for a while. I insist you eat with me this morning." His words were met with a suspicious glare from Takumi after he'd let another arrow loose (this one also hitting dead centre on the target). "Takumi," he said, trying to sound stern. It wasn't healthy to do vigorous practise before eating and he wouldn't let his brother push himself too hard when they were not even at war.

"Fine." Takumi sighed and then lowered his bow once more before slinging it over his shoulder. Ryoma was hit with the memory of Takumi standing in front of the now late King Garon, readying his bow as they prepared to finally end everything.

His brother needed to put the training to rest for a while, it seemed.


	2. Chapter 2

After only a few minutes of sitting at a dining area with Takumi, Ryoma was filled with memories as to why he had drifted away from his younger brother when they were still young. He didn't know quite how it had slipped his mind, but Takumi was stubborn and standoffish to the point of seeming rude. He clearly didn't want to interact with Ryoma and was determined to show this in every word he was forced to speak and every action he made.

"How have you been, brother?" Ryoma asked, to try and start their conversation anew. It hadn't started very well, obviously, but maybe Takumi would be willing to forgive his blunder and start with a more pleasant mindset.

"Fine," he said, putting food into his mouth so he didn't have to say any more. Ryoma knew the trick. The same way that Hinoka always put lots of food into her mouth at dinners where she was told to stop pushing herself so hard, or the way Sakura made sure that it was obvious that she was eating whenever someone glanced her way during a banquet. It was the same way that Takumi used to act when people started talking about Corrin.

"Have you been holding up well?" He asked. "It is a strange time for everyone, after all, and I know many have been struggling to adjust to normal life again." Ryoma could not count himself out of these numbers, because he was ever wanting to go back to the training rooms again and again, thinking in a mantra of 'just in case this all falls apart'.

Takumi, however, simply nodded once, now slowly chewing his food despite obviously being expected to reply. Then again, it was entirely obvious that Takumi didn't give a damn about what Ryoma thought about him or his manners, because he'd honestly been rude throughout their encounter, regardless of whether Ryoma had stepped over some hidden line that he had no knowledge of.

Ryoma took a deep breath in and let himself enjoy his breakfast for a few moments more before he spoke again. He didn't want to push Takumi further away from him, but he also wanted to get to know him a little better, and he wasn't going to do that by sitting in silence. "Should I be frank with you?" He asked, probably in a harsher tone than was necessary, because Takumi's face immediately lifted from where he was staring at his food.

"Go on, brother," Takumi said, inclining his head to say he should continue. Ryoma recognised the gesture from the battlefield, where Takumi would incline his head where there was an opening before his second shot so someone else could get a shot in, or maybe the strike of a sword.

"I do not know you well enough, and you barely know me either," he said. "I fear I have...neglected you in favour of my duties and training. We know each other far less than two siblings should."

"I see," he said, and then put more food in his mouth. After chewing for a while and then swallowing, he continued, "I'm sorry to disappoint you brother, I'm not one to speak for the sake of words." That was a no, then. Ryoma supposed that he shouldn't be too surprised, because of course Takumi wouldn't just accept to renew their relationship on the spot. Other than a few brief words between battles, he had barely spoken to his brother since Corrin returned to them, and even before then he had frequently been too busy to talk to his younger siblings. And when he did have the time, his time always went to Hinoka or Sakura, who were far more willing to accept attention from him.

"It wasn't really a suggestion for the sake of it," he said. He knew that he was starting to get a little too snappy with his brother for a simple breakfast conversation, but he couldn't understand why Takumi was so opposed to his presence. "I wish to get to know you better, Takumi, that is all."

Takumi let out a long sigh. "I have nothing to offer you through a friendship," he said, "and there is no point trying to force me into one, as I don't have any wish to become closer to you just because you are my brother."

Ryoma had heard, mostly from Corrin and Azura, that Takumi had an almost untameable sharp tongue. Takumi said what he meant all the time, but Ryoma himself had never come to the rack to be beaten by it. Partially, he felt that he deserved this rejection, as he was the older sibling and so should have taken responsibility to keep their relationship alive before, so it did not have to come to this, but he couldn't understand why this meant to Takumi that his slip was unforgivable and he was now unworthy of a friendly bond with his only brother. "I understand," was all he could say. He didn't want it to be like this. He wanted Takumi to feel like he had more friends than just his retainers. Two friends was not a high enough number at any stretch of the imagination.

Except now...now there was one. Ryoma remembered now; he hadn't seen it happen, it had been before he had joined up with the party advancing towards Nohr, but Hinata had fallen on the route to Cheve. Slain by a cavalier who was just too fast for him to handle. Takumi now only had one friend, Oboro. Eventually, Takumi would have to replace the young samurai, but that time could not be now. Until then, Takumi had just the one friend.

"Good," Takumi said, standing up. Ryoma couldn't make a point of checking to see if Takumi was finished, that would be rude, but he was fairly sure that he wasn't. "Well, it was pleasant to share a meal with you, brother, but I must get back to my studies."

Ryoma watched as he left, suppressing a sigh until he was alone. He loved his whole family, but Takumi was infuriating when he got an idea in his head. Ah well, there was time for them to become closer and there was plenty of time to let Takumi grieve and recover from the ordeal that had been the war with Nohr. Finishing his breakfast, Ryoma resigned himself to a day of consulting a translator for his correspondence with Crown Prince Leo. Winning Takumi's trust back from where it had gone in their childhood would have to wait.


	3. Chapter 3

Ryoma found it fairly difficult to concentrate on his tasks after his unsuccessful breakfast attempt to connect with his younger brother, but he put it down mostly to the fact that it really was just difficult to sound smart when he read his correspondence with Crown Prince Leo. Their letters were mostly business based, working out when they were going to meet to discuss the terms of the formal end of the war and what kind of things they were going to rule at the end of that, but recently they had both reserved a section at the end of the letter to talk about their families, especially concerning Corrin. Leo knew so much about his little sister from the time they had spent together since that day so many years ago, and Ryoma wasn't too ashamed to say that Leo knew her better than he did. The most recent letter from Leo detailed some of Corrin's favourite books, all the way from when she was barely seven years old to just before she had returned to Hoshido. Ryoma sent back a little about the kinds of foods Corrin had liked when she was much younger, something that had been documented almost in memory of her after she had been kidnapped, and what she liked now, at least what he had seen of it.

'Thank you, Lord Leo, for sharing these memories of my sister with me. I understand that looking back on those times in light of current events must be quite painful, so I thank you all the more for your efforts.

Kind regards,

High Prince Ryoma of Hoshido.'

Ryoma finished his letter with a light sigh, letting the ink dry before folding the papers shut and sealing it with the royal seal of the Dawn Dragon. He remembered all the times he had watched his father and Queen Mikoto seal letters with that very seal, and as always he was still unsure if he was ruling in the way that they would have wished him to. Kagero said there was never any point in fretting over something such as that, because he wouldn't ever be able to ask his parents if he was doing what they wanted, and even if he could, he probably shouldn't because he was his own ruler, not his father nor either of his dead mothers.

He took lunch in his workspace that day because of the sheer amount of work he still had to do, but the mound of tasks had significantly decreased by evening, so he made his way over to the stables, where he knew Hinoka would be, because she spent every evening checking on all the pegasi that she could and grooming them. There were servants to do that kind of work for her, but still she did it, and Ryoma couldn't blame her. He still spent time looking after his sword and training with it every day, and that wasn't even a living creature.

"Hinoka!" He called, doing his best to ignore the frantic bows of two of the stablehands who had noticed him come in.

"Over here, brother!" She called from the very end of one of the rows of pegasi, and he smiled. She would probably ask him to help again until she was done, and only then would she permit herself to take a break to eat with him. Sometimes she stayed in the stables until very late at night, or she went out for a midnight flight on her pegasus.

"Coming!" He called back, making his way over to where her voice had come from. When he found her, she was standing with her back to him, gently brushing the mane of one of the new pegasi that had started training just a few days ago. "How did she do today, Hinoka?"

Hinoka didn't jump or even turn around before she responded, staying fully focused on the task in front of her. "She can still be a little bit jumpy around the male trainees, which is perfectly normal for a girl her age. She'll get used to them in time. She's getting much better at flying at high speeds, too." She continued to brush the pegasus as she spoke. She found her tasks easy and relaxing in such a way that Ryoma almost felt jealous. His own tasks as High Prince, which would be much the same for the rest of his life once he became King, were rather arduous and they took up all of his time with very little left for enjoyable tasks.

"That's good," he said, even though he really knew very little about pegasi and whether this particular pegasus was a good one or not. "I came to ask if you would eat with me this evening."

"Once I'm done with Florea," Hinoka said, predictably. "If you want to help, you could put her gear back in the tack room for me, it doesn't matter where as long as it's all together."

He nodded to his younger sister and put the training equipment back in the tack room, and by the time he got back to her, she was done with the pegasus and was ready to come and eat with him.

Ryoma often ate in private so he could stay away from the members of the Hoshidan court. He'd heard that the Nohrian court was a nightmare, and his own was anything but that, but he valued his privacy and his ability to have conversations with his friends and family without rich members of the court listening in. This privacy had become especially vital directly after the war when he had been involved in many arguments with Corrin about her future and what she would do next. Today was no exception to eating away from prying eyes, and he knew it was something that Hinoka valued as well.

"I spoke to Takumi today," Ryoma started once they had both served themselves. Hinoka looked up from her plate, seemingly surprised. "I saw him out training early this morning and I invited him to breakfast with me."

"I don't think I've spoken to Takumi since Corrin went on her last aid mission," Hinoka admitted, and she looked slightly ashamed as she realised it. "I should ask him how he is, especially since..." She sighed and trailed off, but Ryoma knew what she meant. He hadn't dared approach the conversation with Takumi about taking on a new retainer.

Ryoma just nodded, finishing his mouthful before he responded. "He wasn't exactly pleased to speak with me, and it didn't end well." The only thing it had ended in was Takumi being very frustrated about everything and Ryoma not really wanting to renew any friendship with his brother if he was that rude all the time. If his little brother wanted friends, he should be nice to people before expecting them to be nice in return.

Hinoka laughed lightly. "I fear that's just how Takumi is. I remember when we were little...after Takumi gave up the sword to be an archer, he would beg mother to teach him how to use a bow every single day. She always said that she'd do it when he was a bit older, and maybe he should ask someone else." He remembered that. Mother had always been too busy with her duties as Queen to commit to teaching Takumi as much as he wanted to be taught, but she said that she should wait until he was older before hinting that maybe Yukimura or Reina would be able to do it instead.

"And from there he would go to Reina, who was busy teaching you how to use a lance," he continued for her. He knew how this had ended back then, and he wouldn't be surprised if Takumi was still bitter about it. He seemed to be the type to hold a grudge. "And afterwards he would go to Yukimura, who was very busy trying to organise ninjas to return Corrin to us."

"I remember watching him trying to train himself by watching the soldiers who were being taught properly," Hinoka said. "He spent hours out by the range every day, trying to copy each and every movement."

"I feel ashamed that I never offered him any help," Ryoma admitted. "I saw him there, day after day, but because I thought he hated me for beating him, I didn't want to talk to him."

"I'm ashamed that I kept Reina to myself," Hinoka said. "He surpassed her as an archer long ago now, but it would have meant something at the time." He'd surpassed most of the archers in Hoshido from the moment he'd laid hands on the Fujin Yumi and it had sprung to life without a moment's hesitation, and that had occurred years after Hinoka had finished the beginning of her training in the lance and she had moved on to training with other sky knights.

Ryoma could only nod in agreement. "I fear that I have neglected Takumi for other things that I considered more important at the time," he said, "and now I have realised just how important he is, he has already drifted away."


	4. Chapter 4

Ryoma and Hinoka concluded over dinner that they had really never paid enough attention to Takumi, and though they must have justified it at the time, they couldn't think of a single reason as to why they had been so cold to him for so long. He must have thought that they were both terrible siblings.

However, they did remember that although they had barely spoken to Takumi during the war, he had helped train Sakura in the ways of the yumi, well enough that she had been able to pick it up and use it on the battlefield despite her timid nature. Both of them got on much better with Sakura than they ever had with Takumi, so Ryoma resolved to ask his youngest sister how Takumi had been since the war ended and maybe ask for advice on talking to him again.

To ask her about this, he invited Sakura to eat lunch with him the following day. He had been considering inviting Takumi to breakfast with him again, to see if he could establish a form of routine between them, but his little brother seemed to have hidden himself away, because he was nowhere to be found. Sakura, however, was predictable as ever and easy to find in the castle infirmary, where she was continuing her studies as a healer in the hope that she could one day be a master at the art and help as many people as possible.

"Good morning, Sakura," he greeted her, and unlike Hinoka, she jumped at his voice. She had been watching a more experienced healer as they attended some patients with long term injuries that needed physical attention to heal properly rather than just a festal rod and a bit of magic.

"Good morning, brother!" She called back, and he was pleased to hear that much of the shaking in her voice was gone. She was so much more confident in herself now, and it was good to see. "Did you need something?"

He smiled to her and nodded, beckoning her away before motioning to the healer to continue with his work. "I wished to invite you to eat lunch with me," he said, and suddenly Sakura blushed a bright red colour.

"O-okay!" She nodded quickly, and Ryoma would have been very concerned if he hadn't been able to see the large smile on her face. Still shy, then, just as it always had been with Sakura. Some things never changed.

"How are Hana and Subaki?" He asked, happy that he could talk about retainers with this younger sibling, at least.

"They're taking a month of leave at the moment," she said, which was honestly something that Ryoma should have known. "They wanted to travel Hoshido with Caeldori. You know, their daughter?" Ryoma did remember the sky knight who seemed to rival even her father in striving for perfection. A very handy girl to have around, Caeldori, because she thought of everything that needed to be done and you only needed to ask her to get her to share.

"Yes, of course!" He said, linking arms with Sakura as they walked towards where he took his meals. She laughed softly as he did it, and he felt happiness rise in his chest. If only it could be so easy with Takumi. "And how is Hayato?"

"B-brother!" Ryoma turned to Sakura to see her go an even deeper red colour than before. "What does that have to do with my retainers?"

"You know exactly what I mean," he said, smiling down at her as she continued to blush. Of all the people in the army Corrin had led, Hayato was probably one of the more difficult people to deal with, simply because he was so obstinate. And his ability to drive people away was almost as powerful as Takumi's, and only fell short because he wasn't a prince. But, somehow, he had gotten off on the right foot with Sakura, and the two of them were firm friends. "I'm just teasing you, little sister, don't worry about it."

Fortunately for poor Sakura, they reached his quarters before she got the chance to respond. "Um, brother, was there a reason you asked me to eat lunch with you?" She asked, and not for the first time since the war had ended, Ryoma marvelled at how she had matured and grown more aware of other people as she had grown up. He also thought on how proud Mother would have been to see her grow like this, but he didn't dwell on that thought for too long, because he still missed her more than he could bear.

"Yes, actually," he said, waving to a maid to get her to set up for their lunch. "I wanted to ask you about something that I think you have more experience in than me." Once the maid was gone, he continued, "it recently came to my attention that I have not paid as much attention to Takumi as I should have, but when I tried to talk to him he wasn't particularly receptive."

Sakura laughed lightly, and he was about to tell her it was no laughing matter, but she stopped him by responding. "If you want to talk to Takumi, you would have to get used to that," she said, smiling. "He's really nice and funny when you get to know him, but sometimes he just doesn't like talking. He's been really quiet for the last few weeks, really."

"Is he okay?" Ryoma asked. He'd almost expected that Sakura would tell him things about Takumi that would make it easier to understand him, but this just made him more worried about his brother's wellbeing, reminding him of how Takumi spent far too long training and studying and hadn't been looking after himself or allowing himself to grieve for his lost friend.

"I think so," Sakura said. "He just gets like that sometimes. You wouldn't really know, brother, but during the war his temper was much worse than normal, and he kept driving me away when I wanted him to help with my yumi training." Ryoma didn't miss the slight jab at how, even during war when they could have lost each other at any day, he didn't really talk to Takumi or even look for an opportunity to say how much he meant to him. "He's much better now, though, but he's quiet."

"Is he still grieving for Hinata?" Ryoma asked. He thought that was the most likely cause of Takumi being upset and avoiding talking to people he liked, even, like Sakura. He was sort of pleased that it wasn't just him who had caused the rudeness, and it was also how Takumi was feeling at the moment. He was still willing to accept the blame, but it was nice to have a little of it taken away. At the time, it had felt like he held all the blame for neglecting a member of his family, and it was a terrible feeling.

"I think so," Sakura said, and her voice was quieter now. "Hinata was always so cheerful, Takumi really liked him. He used to do everything he could to take stress away from him." Ryoma had barely spoken to Hinata too, except when the boy was very young and had first been appointed into the role of Takumi's retainer. "But I don't think Hinata is the only thing on his mind, because it's been so long since he died, and he's been happier since then than he is now."

"Well," he said, almost unsure of what to do next about Takumi. Clearly he should try to help, but he didn't know how. He was dealing with the loss of Mother, yes, but it was an entirely different kind of thing to lose one of your best friends. "The next time you see Takumi, could you let him know that I'm sorry if I bothered him?"

"Of course," Sakura said, smiling. "I'm sure he'll warm up to you in time, brother."

"I can only hope so," he said. He felt awful for leaving Takumi to his own devices all the time. It was truly as if he had completely failed in his duties as an older brother. He should protect and care for all of his siblings, and he could only imagine how neglected and unwanted Takumi would feel in comparison to how he treated his sisters.


End file.
